Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)

Elijah was very tempted to simply grab his friends, shift into Shape of the Sky, and use Lightning Rush. But he knew that wouldn’t work. For all his advancement, he knew he couldn’t carry them all for very long – maybe a few miles at most. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than the entire forest was cast into shadow as something the size of a cargo jet passed overhead.

No - flying wasn’t an option.

Instead, he shifted into Shape of Thorn and braced himself for the oncoming monsters. As he did, Sadie took up a position on the other side, with Dat completing the triangle. In the center was Ron and Kurik.

“Efficiency!” shouted Sadie. “That’s the –”

A wraith crashed into her, and instead of being repelled like normal, it shattered her shield and bit down on her shoulder. She grunted, then rammed her blade between the creature’s ribs. It let out a screech, and she threw it aside. Even with its gaping wound, it didn’t stay down, but Elijah had to trust his companions to take care of themselves. He couldn’t spare the attention to keep track.

Because it was at that moment that a trio of wraiths rushed out of the underbrush and threw themselves at him. After seeing what had happened to Sadie, Elijah reacted better than his companion. He used Thunderclap, sending a pulse of pealing thunder to slam into his assailants. They faltered, stumbling to a stop, and he took that opportunity to lash out with his long, thorn-like claws.

His arms moved so quickly that he was briefly thrown off-balance, but it didn’t matter. The monsters had no opportunity to dodge, and with one swipe, the stunned creatures were ripped to shreds. His claws tore a quartet of gaping wounds in their emaciated torsos, shattering bone and bursting organs along the way.

Sadie’s strike had merely injured her attacker, but Elijah’s blow had completely eviscerated three foes. The only downside was that he almost spun himself around with the sheer weight of the attack, and it took every point of his Dexterity attribute to keep himself from falling. That brief opening was all the next wave – which came on the heels of the first – needed. They fell upon him with bestial fury, biting and clawing as they tried to get through his bark-like scales.

Elijah didn’t feel any of it.

More importantly, each attack was answered by a long, thick thorn the size of a dagger that pierced their bodies. And given the sheer volume of their attacks – as well as Elijah’s high attributes – the wraiths definitely got the worst of the exchange. Blood flowed, white and disgusting, as they threw self-preservation to the wind. Dozens of attacks fell upon Elijah as they clung to his body. Each one was mirrored by a thorn, turning the gangly monsters into meaty pincushions.

But as many wounds as they inflicted, the thorns were far from lethal. However, Elijah quickly discovered that they came with an added benefit. It took a lot longer than he would ever want to admit before he realized it, but with every passing second, the wraiths slowed considerably. And it was far more than simple blood loss could explain. What’s more, he was familiar enough with venom to recognize the toxic effects for what they were.

Even if it wasn’t listed as one of the effects that came with Natural Thorns, it seemed that they were toxic. He still needed to do some experiments before he knew exactly what they did, though, and it certainly wasn’t the time to investigate further, given that more wraiths were already on their way. And they weren’t likely to be very accommodating to testing.

The lethargy of his foes did give him some time to acclimate to his increased attributes. His body wouldn’t allow him to fully tap into his Strength, but such a huge influx of power was bound to come with some complications. He forced himself to concentrate as he fought, using short, quick movements that could take advantage of his new Strength without resulting in a loss of balance.

It worked, allowing Elijah to both take care of the wraiths and accustom himself to his increased power.

But as soon as those went down, more took their place. It wasn’t long before he was facing a wall of wraiths, with dozens having leaped upon him in an effort to bring him down via sheer weight of numbers. In the past, it might have worked, but the timely evolution of his most defensive form allowed him to endure their attacks while giving as good as he got.

His companions weren’t so lucky, though. Sadie held her own as well as she could, but she was taking a lot of damage along the way. Given the numbers they faced, the constant healing she required just to stay upright was going to take its toll. Dat fared slightly better, dodging in and out of battle and inflicting deadly attacks with his shortswords. However, it was clear that he wasn’t going to last any longer than Sadie. Judging by the amount of ethera flowing through his body, he was probably using some sort of short duration buff that let him keep up. When it faded, he would die.

Kurik hadn’t moved. Instead, he continued to yank things out of his new storage space, using the components to build some sort of contraption that looked less like a trap and more like a homemade satellite dish made out of a sawblade.

In short, the battle was already on the verge of being lost. Elijah felt certain that he would make it. And he would ensure Kurik’s survival as well. But the others? He couldn’t protect them all.

So, he decided to use the other ability that had come with his new Shape of Thorn:

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.